During my research trip, we made a stop at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. Excellent museum! New Bedford is a pretty town, too. Cobblestone roads, lovely old buildings. Rich with history. For a while, Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world (hence . . . the financial capital of the world), but for a variety of reasons, it shifted to New Bedford in the middle of the 19th century.

Skeleton of a blue whale.

The Quakers had a strong influence on the whaling industry.

This is a “busk,” a stay for a corset, made of scrimshaw (whale bone).

Quaker clothing. Note the silk dress—they didn’t want to use cotton because of the slave trade.

A Bible in the Captain’s quarters (left). This huge map showed where the whales were found around the world (right).

The Seaman’s Bethel was a church for sailors. This one was mentioned in Moby Dick by Herman Melville.   

I’ve been to three whaling museums in the United States now—there’s one more left, in Maui, that I hope to go to . . . for obvious reasons. 🙂

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